[ 21: SHOWDOWN ]
[ CA-23 ][18.03.2015]
"Why did you do that?" Sejoon asked, harshly whispering. The whole building seemed to still fall on quietness, but it didn't ease his heart.
"Excuse me, I sho—never mind." Hyerin shrugged, quietly pushing the hospital door. It creaked slightly, and Sejoon remained still, biting his lips. Jisung, however, slowly walked towards the door.
"Jisung?" Sejoon asked. Jisung walked further inside, noticing that it's completely dark. Jisung switched on his flashlight, slowly scanning over the room. Hyerin noticed it, and did the same.
"Is—Peserphone? It's empty." Sejoon grumbled. Except for several plastic wraps lying around and large, dusty webs, only the walls and the floor remained. Not a single air vent was visible.
"I... don't know either." Sejoon rolled his eyes.
"It wasn't. This is the right room." Jisung said.
"How's this the right one? It's the visions?" Sejoon said. Jisung bit his lips, and hesitantly nodded. The former raised his eyebrows, but said nothing.
"The room Rohee was in had the same number. They knew about this already." Hyerin muttered, watching both Sejoon and Jisung walked around.
"Meaning to say... so do we." Sejoon said, stepping on a side of the floor. The rest looked at him, now very confused.
"How so?" Hyerin said. As she stepped on closer though, her eyes seemed to flicker differently.
"Jisung? Did you remember how we ended up opening the hatch?" Sejoon turned to him, but the latter looked unconvinced.
"It was supposed to be before we saw Kim Rohee... but you were the one using that. Can't see what you're using though."
"Well, it'll just makes a lot of sense now." Sejoon rummaged his pants, and pulled out the bent paperclip. With the straight edge, he scratched the floor area, and stopped short at a certain spot.
"I'll need your help after this, Jini Depp." Sejoon said, a huge grin plastered all over his face. Slowly, a dark inner layer appeared from below the ceramic, and Jisung immediately pulled the edge of the floor.
"It's possible?" Hyerin raised her eyebrows. She directed her flashlight towards the black shade towards the bottom, and saw multiple metallic bars stuck to concrete. She bit her lips, hesitantly turning to the two men.
"Rohee's carried here, so not wrong."
"Did you see how they carry her?" Sejoon said.
"Piggyback?"
"Can't say it would be a really nice ride for her. Let's go." Sejoon nodded to Jisung, who immediately jumped into the black bars downwards. The older nodded to Hyerin, who hesitantly followed.
"If you're wrong, I'm blaming you for this." Hyerin muttered.
"Alright." Sejoon shrugged. He moved down, and put the concrete almost closer to its original position.
♦
"Archer." Hyerin said, sternly. She's been climbing down at least a few metres down already; the silence and the unusually humid air made her senses tingle, and it's not something she's quite familiar of.
"Yes?" Jisung said, and yet he came to an abrupt stop. Hyerin almost wanted to snap back and asked why, but felt a sudden gust of wind. It wasn't huge neither very cold or anything—but the sticky, sweltering air made it different.
Jisung's feet stepped out a little below the railings, and realized he landed on a hard, coarse floor. He pulled out his flashlight, and bit into it, turning his head down.
"It's a tiny floor." Jisung said, landing on it. He moved his hand, and realized the solid ceramic was enclosed with walls in all sides; he bit his lips against that.
"You're saying we're lured into another trap?" Hyerin said, her voice sounding increasingly frustrated.
"Wait." Jisung said. He lets his ear closer towards the opposite side of the wall, and started hearing strange mutters. The wall also felt less thicker compared to the other adjacent sides.
Clenching his fists, he slowly felt through the wall; at one point, just when he almost went up above his toes, the walls started turning thicker. Jisung turned, putting a finger over his mouth.
"What now?" Hyerin whispered. Jisung heard the murmurs behind the door became even more diminished by the moment; he also heard the sounds of rough footsteps became louder as he waited, only surpassed by the sound of his shaky, beating heart.
"Hyerin, Jisung, get back up, right now." Sejoon's low voice sounded even heavier than usual, and Jisung's legs immediately reached for the presence of the railings. The black bars felt cold and sticky in his hands, but he didn't have the time to wait.
"And you? Hyung, what are you doing?" When Jisung had looked up, Sejoon turned his body around, climbing at the opposite direction of the younger's, quietly and slowly, to the bottom of the floor.
"It's nothing bad. Stay here." Sejoon said, holding his hand over his face, continuing to climb down.
"I'll go with you." Jisung said.
"Naw, that's dumb." Sejoon was only a few steps on the floor when the door suddenly collapsed, revealing two figures, heavily clad with armor, pointing their guns at the former.
But Jisung and Hyerin heard two loud gunshots; and then, two figures crouched on the ground. Jisung covered his mouth, not trying to let his jaw open as the quiet sounds of groaning filled in his ears.
Sejoon looked back at the two, and nodded quickly at them. His mouth also moved, and Hyerin could see it as a 'Wait'. But the latter's eyes widened when she realized that there were more figures, waiting right behind Sejoon.
In the dimly-lit small room, Hyerin felt the stairs started vibrating quickly; her lights have turned off, and she bit her lips, trying to configure if it had been an enemy. On the same time, she realized she couldn't even see Jisung's figure below her.
Then, more yelps. Thuds. And moments later, an audible noise of hands clapping.
"What did I tell you about waiting?" Sejoon was heard, annoyed. But also almost relieved.
"If I waited, that's dumb." Then Jisung.
"Nig? Can you come down? It's fine now." Figuring out it was the shortened form of her name by none other than Sejoon, Hyerin momentarily her flashlight, turning her back on the opposite direction of the stairs.
"There's going to be more of them really soon. Take a card from one of the guards' chest pocket. It would allow you to enter the final entrance."
"Since when did you even hear us?" Sejoon asked, annoyed. Immediately as Hyerin went down, Sejoon gave her black card.
"They almost found out about me. Be patient too." Iseul sounded rather pissed, but Hyerin couldn't help but got a bit alarmed at her words.
"Alright. Use this card, sneak in to get Rohee, listen carefully to Pessy to get out. We'll be close from the back. Understood?" Sejoon said. Not only that, he gave her a gun. It felt rather different in her hands; must be from the guards.
"Where to take her?" Hyerin asked.
"There's a secret door leading to the exit. Hurry." Hyerin watched as the rest followed her to another door. This one looked almost completely different; instead of being another white door, it's in black. Not only that, it lacked a knob or a handle.
Hyerin noticed a small square with a thin slot, just left to the door. She signalled the rest to come over the walls, and hastily inserted the card.
The door slid open, and Hyerin's stomach almost dropped; at the opposite corner, a guard stood in front of the opposite side of the room, turning his head. And just then, he made eye contact with Hyerin.
The latter gulped.
"Nig, move." It didn't took long, but Hyerin felt being harshly pulled down to the bottom, and she heard a loud shot. The guard no longer stood up, but keeled over, clutching his stomach.
"You know? I think all of our operation today should be called, 'let's just shot before the thought'." Jisung groaned, pulling his stolen revolver.
When another guard appeared before her, Hyerin pulled her own, and at the blink of an eye, that person no longer came to her eyesight.
♦
There weren't just two guards over the opposite room, but five more made their presence clear, pulling out their own guns. In the middle of it all, a young, emaciated Rohee laid weakly at a flat table, mouth over with an oxygen mask, and Yoo Eunchang was just metres next to her, sorting out some papers.
Hyerin ran over rather easily as both Jisung and Sejoon tackled over the guards. Loud gunshots rang over the rather large room, and although she had to approach the girl, still managed to shoot the guards.
It definitely alerted Eunchang, but Hyerin's gun, in a little act of feeling the tense moment, shot his right chest twice. Other men and women in white lab coats had ran towards the closest tables and beds, possibly hoping to get away from the three. Hyerin knew it's not possible.
Hyerin approached Rohee closer, but the older hadn't responded to her, eyes still closed. Hyerin shook her head, and noticed another scar at Rohee's cheek. It wasn't there when they had just arrived, so it couldn't be very long. Hyerin's heart sank when she thought of it.
Static. Nothing too bad of it, she knew it. The more she looked at it, the image of the guards and Eunchang started appeared at her. Hyerin's wrists and legs felt awfully tight, and yet the man's face still had a frown; one that looked less scary, and more uncertain. Scared.
Then, the prickly sensation at her hands. A horrible pain came down to Hyerin, and she could feel her own life force being out of her. Hyerin gulped, still trying to stand up, but her static had gotten louder.
She heard the loud beeping noise. The frantic figures in white running around, including Eunchang. Then, the vision started to blur, except for the image of a woman who looked exactly like Rohee, but older, smiling. Then, it blackened, the last thing heard being two loud gunshots.
Very loud. It rang through Hyerin's ear. It also felt very hot on her back, but she wasn't exactly sure if it was the effects of the static. She's too tired to know.
"Hyerin!"
♦
"Give it up." Hyosung gulped uneasy, seeing the young woman, in her white lab coat, now running barefoot, her hair in a mess, holding on a gun. It's a different sight from the confident lady, with her multiple monsters and researchers, that almost shot Hyosung at least twice previously.
"We're not. If you're in our way, might as well make it ours now." No monsters had been heard the past five minutes; Wooyoung didn't think too much of it, except that it was easier to run.
"Did Peserphone called us to a different place?" Hyosung wondered.
"Weird. She was still in the previous jail before. It's not even a second ago. She teleported?"
"We're not supposed to care about that." Jookyung said, pulling out his own revolver.
"If you don't come down right now," Seulhee said, loudly. "all of you will die!"
The loud voice rang loud to their ears, but their hearts didn't hear. The opposite woman in front of them no longer sounded like an actual femme fatale, but a harried, broken person that had all lost.
Hani noticed the knife still next to the gurney, and picked it up. She slowly climbed down, and when Wooyoung held her hand, she harshly yanked it away.
"What are you doing?"
"Something I know very well. Wait." She slowly walked, knife at her left hand, tucked neatly behind her left hand. Hyosung knew that it wasn't completely hidden from anyone's view; it's not.
"Don't come closer!" A loud gunshot rang throughout the walls; most of them immediately crouched down for cover, but the younger's footsteps never came to a halt.
Wooyoung clenched his teeth, and pulled out his gun. His hands never pulled the trigger and no one desired that, but the air felt thick and heavy; there's only chances anyone could break it.
"No, no, no." They heard a loud clang, and saw that Seulhee's tall figure crouched, her hands completely free. Just in front of her, the gun came in contact with the floor.
Hani finally stopped herself from moving too. Only the gun on the floor still separated her with Han Seulhee, but not like it was a formidable barrier.
She looked down to the woman again. There was no difference between her and the figure that fell down back at the sink. Her eyes wanted to resist and still had glints of frustration, desiring better than now.
Hani also noticed that there were strange, black-blue marks on the woman's neck. It didn't look lke a scar, but more like patterns. But it could wait for later.
So Hani sighed, and dropped her knife. It made a loud clang on contact with the floor, and Seulhee's head immediately rose up to meet hers. The latter smiled a little, and pulled her empty hand.
"What's the baby's name?"
" off!" Hyerin's body went limp as she fell to the ground, and Jisung's eyes turned to his right, only to see Eunchang holding a gun at her direction.
Jisung's blood boiled, and without a minute spared, he let himself free from the guards, also dwindling in number, and grabbed the older man's lapels. He'd seen red spots over the chest area, so the older couldn't have been that strong either.
"Arch!" Sejoon's words just passed off him as he ripped off Yoo Eunchang's glasses and struck him across the face. It took the older man off guard, but something suddenly flickered on his eyes.
"Why. Did. You. Cheated. On. Them?" Jisung's punched barely stopped, and although Eunchang's hands tried to pry away Jisung's arms, it came off as a pathetic effort when the younger could whisk away his arms.
"Wait, Jisung!" Eunchang shouted, and Jisung came to a full stop. The latter grabbed him by the lapels, enough that both of them met directly, face to face.
"I... you don't understand. You understood nothing of this. I still loved them." Jisung's heart felt like it could burst in flames at any moment. He let go one of his hands, and balled them up to punch back at the man.
"Lies." Jisung spat. The room came to a full, dead-on silence, and in Jisung's eyes, he could see no one made their move. All except for the blood that trailed from Eunchang's mouth, but that was barely enough to made him calm.
"I—it's not. I'm sorry." Eunchang gaped for air, and Jisung immediately lets him go. Something just dawned on the young boy, and he looked back and forth, between Eunchang's body on the floor, and then his hand.
His heart sunk. He's never punched a person, much less made them bloody enough to faint. It's his first mission, but even back then never in his mind would he like to hurt anyone.
He felt disgust.
But when he barely turned around, and he suddenly felt a harsh pull that nearly hurt his collar. Not even a minute later, he felt a sharp metal encircling his neck.
"Move, and this kid would be dead." A deep, rough voice rung in Jisung's ears, and unlike Wooyoung or Sejoon's voice, this one made his heart beat faster. He knew well of his current situation, and he made eye contact with Sejoon.
The older was only a few centimetres away from the door, and even Jisung wasn't exactly sure what the door would have led to, but Sejoon's face barely twitched. He only nodded at Jisung, which could have meant anything.
Sejoon saw that one of the man in white lab coats had grabbed a spare knife, but the former had been too busy to kick off the last remaining guard alone to help the younger. They should be able to the girl, but right now, Hyerin's safety should be number one.
Sejoon sighed, and after he saw that all of the guards had been knocked out, dropped his gun. The movement made Jisung and the researcher flinched, but Sejoon shook his head. He slowly stepped backwards, closer and closer to the door, enough that the researcher would still be distracted in that moment.
He leaned his head to the door, and slowly, his ears started hearing a very faint noise. Had it been one of the nightmarish figures, it would be a chaotic, unclear rhythm. Sejoon focused on that, but found nothing. If it was the guards coming, it would have made tiny, rhythmic foosteps.
This one sounded like footsteps, but they didn't come off as a consistent rhythm. It was also getting louder and louder, and in between them, he heard their voices talking. It all felt very familiar.
Sejoon smirked. A guard had passed out nearby him, and the latter had his black card in tow, just in case he had to open the door, but now he had to deal with one of his teammates shot and another one in the process of being nearly slashed.
He quietly dropped the black card, and kicked it back through one of the openings. The voices turned silent, and after a few moments, he heard the sound of the card being inserted through the slot.
"Is this Sejoo—Lupin?" Sejoon tried so hard not to break into a giddy relief, but he couldn't help but made his smirk more lax.
"You know, there's a thing we call... it's over." Sejoon stepped forward, and seconds later, the door slid open, revealing the four teammates, and a woman at the front, looking up at him with defeat. The man in white coat dropped his knife.
Sejoon sighed in relief, and hurriedly ran over to Hyerin.
"You alright?" The girl weakly turned head, but still breathing. Sejoon reached out his arms to her, and she, albeit with reluctance, took it.
He may also be imagining things, but there was a smile on her face.
♦
"So... you went to a secret chamber below the hospital and then found all of them?" Iseul said, moving closer to the back of the ambulance. Notifying the distress signal to Johak when she saw Hyosung's signal may have been the best call.
"Somewhat like that, yeah. Rohee is on the way to the hospital." Sejoon said. Iseul nodded, and noticed multiple orange body bags, carrying the monstrous looking things. Several people in white lab coat also passes by the hospital, being handcuffed by the police.
"Did they take her already?" Sejoon frowned. He knew from Iseul's tone that she's specifically referring to their youngest, but it kind of annoyed him. He's not sure.
"Didn't hit a major blood vessel or anything. She's on her way to the medical ward. Where were you, anyway?"
"Rooftop?" Sejoon nearly choked at that statement.
"That's why you lost the signal."
"No, but they did almost found me out, so I go." Iseul said.
"Good to hear you alive, then. What's there without a hacker like you?" Sejoon shrugged.
Iseul felt like her heart became a little bigger than usual, but her face immediately deflated.
"Like what?"
"Like... the one who can hack my heart."
♦
"Does anyone know why Sejoon had a handprint on his face?" Hyosung asked. She'd sat next to Hani, waiting as they quietly saw Hyerin, lying on the gurney. She looked awfully pale, and had it not been for Sejoon, her condition would have worsen.
"No." Hani said, but she also saw Iseul was furiously blushing next to her. Her right hand also looked tomato red compared to the other one.
"Where's the boys?" she asked. The last time the eight had met again together, Wooyoung had been conversing with a few leaders who had witnessed it, and from the sniper's increasingly dark face, it couldn't be good. Hyosung just felt better for that assignment.
"Still back there." Iseul said. ani turned her back, avoiding eye contact with Hyosung.
Hyosung sighed, feeling worried. It's far from finished for everyone.
The sun looks beautiful, though.
♦
Jisung saw the sun rises above the horizon, and Jookyung knew well it was in his vision, but the latter wasn't smiling.
"Ji? What's wrong?" Jisung turned, seeing Jookyung gently patting his shoulder.
"I... don't know. It's just too much for me. My powers aren't working properly." Jookyung slowly nodded. He hadn't hear the full story from Sejoon, but he himself was in that circumstances, so he knew it well.
"It's not your fault." Jookyung said. He knew it sounded completely empty when he barely knew Jisung's powers to an extent, but he knew guilt weighed in the boy's heart.
"No, I mean... can I be a monster?" Jookyung raised his left brow. The notion sounded strange from a very optimistic boy, but Jookyung also realized that Jisung was only 18 years old. He barely graduated highschool, and even some agents had their first mission at their twenties.
Hyosung had a point.
"That's... something I've always thought too," Jisung looked up to the brown haired guy with piqued curiosity.
"Why?"
"I... don't really know either," Jookyung said. He noticed Sejoon approached them from afar, and quietly smiled.
"no humans or Ens are perfect, but your journey isn't defined by your sins. Your heart does."
♦
Not defined by your sin?
That's a very interesting take, Sun.
We'll see how you all fare after this.
You, and all of your sins would be judged.
As all you deserved.
notes: who... dat?
alright, SEASON ONE IS NOW OVER! the next season is going to be more engaging and would be the place you started finding answers to the real reasons why... everything comes to be now. this is also the longest chapter to date, so.
if you have any complaints or questions about why i made the story and characters act that way, do ask away. i'm open to criticism.
sounds fuuuuuuunn? pleasewaitbecauseimaunifreshmanthisfallsotheresgoingtobehiatus
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